Notable sports deaths of 2018

Wally Triplett, Nov. 8

Wally Triplett, the former Detroit Lions running back who was the first African-American player drafted into the NFL to play in a regular-season game, died on Thursday, according to a Lions news release. He was 92. Triplett played for the Lions in 1949 and 1950 after being selected in the 19th round of the 1949 NFL draft; he was the third black player taken in that draft but the first of the group to play in a regular-season game.